TELF AG analyzes some dynamics of the global coal market
An epocal change
Most people are now used to considering the global energy transition as a possible improvement in current conditions, an epochal change that will be able to give everyone better living conditions for themselves and their families, but above all for future generations. For several years, also thanks to the power of visual communication that we see every day on the screens of our devices, we have been accustomed to associating the term “green” with the ecological transition, commonly associated with hope and other equally positive feelings.
It is no coincidence that international institutions continue to use this word to explain to the world the importance of this transition and the effects it will have on their daily lives, also setting precise sustainability objectives that each country is required to achieve in a certain period of time.
But sometimes, while we are immersed in the contemplation of the green and bright future that is forming before our eyes, some of the side effects of this now inevitable global transition towards cleaner energies seem to escape us, and which, in some cases, have to do with see with the well-being and vitality of millions of people involved in the traditional raw materials sector.
The US Think Global Energy Monitor, in recent weeks, published the results of research that could facilitate a better understanding of the raw materials market and the fate of the people currently involved in it. According to the study, by 2050, the global coal industry may have to shed nearly 1 million workers. In the coming decades, when the sustainable transition comes into full swing, many labor-intensive mines will be definitively closed because all the nations of the world are now well directed towards a progressive replacement of coal with sustainable energy sources characterized by very low carbon emissions. The countries that will suffer the highest numbers of worker losses will be China and India, where the local coal industry employs large numbers of people.
The situation appears rather complex because, in recent years, the demand for coal to support the demand for electricity has continued to grow, and the mines destined to close have not yet developed operational strategies to manage the global transition to green in a less traumatic way. In India, the state company Coal India’s coal supplies to the energy sector increased by 3.4% in the first six months of 2023, with electricity demand reaching record levels, especially in August and September. At the moment, companies such as Coal India are fully managing to satisfy domestic demand for coal, recording continuous increases in supply volumes. And for the next fiscal year, supplies are expected to hit even higher levels due to a sharp increase in the quantities of coal required for electricity.
These are certainly significant figures for a sector that will see the closure of several mines in every part of the world in the coming decades. In recent months, an appeal for the protection of people currently employed in the coal sector came from Dorothy Mey, project manager of the Global Coal Mine Tracker, who stated that national governments should start as soon as possible to develop operational strategies that allow workers from suffering the worst effects of the global energy transition. It has been estimated that the coal industry globally employs 2.7 million people and that there are as many as 4,300 active mining projects.
